I too fished Lake Michigan a lot back in my college days. The bigger fish are up north near Traverse and Charlevoix. We commonly caught fish up to 30 pounds, with some HUGE Lakers and Browns in the mix. They are dawn and dusk biters for certain. Spoons are the go to, but we also had good success on plugs. The action can be red hot when you find em'.

The fresh water discharge fisheries for big browns is a hoot and best fished in the dead of winter. It is soooooo cold. Milwaukee has a world class discharge fishery. On the Michigan side, all of the major river systems will hold world class browns in the fall. Until pretty recently, the Manistee held the world record at around 41 pounds. I'm convinced there's a 50 pounder in there somewhere.

On the weather front, all of the Great Lakes are generally pretty chill until the summer afternoon thunderstorms come rolling in. Then it can be super violent and deadly. Lighting, hail, tornados and big waves for smaller boats can make it real sporty in a hurry.

On a side note, I miss the debauchery that is late night smelt dipping. Lots of big smelt and lots of Canadian Club.